ted through the service sector, nearly two-thirds of
Bangladeshis are employed in the agriculture sector, with rice as
the single-most-important product. Major impediments to growth
include frequent cyclones and floods, inefficient state-owned
enterprises, inadequate port facilities, a rapidly growing labor
force that cannot be absorbed by agriculture, delays in exploiting
energy resources (natural gas), insufficient power supplies, and
slow implementation of economic reforms. Economic reform is stalled
in many instances by political infighting and corruption at all
levels of government. Progress also has been blocked by opposition
from the bureaucracy, public sector unions, and other vested
interest groups. The BNP government, led by Prime Minister Khaleda
ZIA, has the parliamentary strength to push through needed reforms,
but the party's political will to do so has been lacking in key
areas. One encouraging note: growth has been a steady 5% for the
past several years.

GDP:
purchasing power parity - $258.8 billion (2003 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
5.3% (2003 est.)

GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $1,900 (2003 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 21.7%
industry: 26.6%
services: 51.7% (2003 est.)

Investment (gross fixed):
23.2% of GDP (2003)

Population below poverty line:
35.6% (FY95/96 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 3.9%
highest 10%: 28.6% (1995-96 est.)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:
33.6 (FY95/96)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
5.6% (2003 est.)

Labor force:
64.02 million
note: extensive export of labor to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Oman,
Qatar, and Malaysia; workers' remittances estimated at $1.71 billion
in 1998-99 (2003)

Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture 63%, industry 11%, services 26% (FY95/96)

Unemployment rate:
40% (includes underemployment) (2002 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $5.352 billion
expenditures: $7.55 billion, including capital expenditures of NA
(2003)

Public debt:
43.3% of GDP (2003)

Agriculture - products:
rice, jute, tea, wheat, sugarcane, potatoes, tobacco, pulses,
oilseeds, spices, fruit; beef, milk, poultry

Industries:
cotton textiles, jute, garments, tea processing, paper newsprint,
cement, chemical fertilizer, light engineering, sugar

Industrial production growth rate:
1.9% (20